1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for the autologous delivery of material such as, for example, tissue through the use of catheters and a pump. As is set forth in greater detail below, the apparatus may be inserted surgically within the patient, or portions of the apparatus may be external. The apparatus is also adaptable whereby medicaments, in addition to autologous material, may be delivered to the patient by the pump.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As an example of autologous material delivery, autologous bone grafting is a relatively common procedure in orthopedic surgery. Multiple fractures, fusions, infections, and nonunions are commonplace, and such conditions are typically treated with some form of autologous bone grafting. In a typical situation, bone graft material is obtained from the pelvis at the iliac crest, but can also be obtained from other skeletal sites such as, for example, the proximal tibia. Bone grafting does involve an additional incision for harvesting of the graft material, resulting in potential pain and donor site morbidity. Furthermore, this procedure is typically performed one time, where all of the bone graft material is removed, or the bone marrow is aspirated, and the autologous graft material is delivered in a single operation to the desired treatment site.
Numerous devices are described in the literature, both technical and patent, for more efficient removal, and such devices involve mechanical augers and other such devices for bone graft harvest.
Because the graft material is harvested in one step and then placed at a second site, current bone marrow aspirate technology and selective cell filtration involves large, multiple aspirate passes to obtain material, and this is often quite painful for the patient. One example of current, state-of-the-art systems and their use is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,325,806 to Fox. Another example is provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0188240 to Gorsuch.
Not withstanding the existence of current autologous collection and delivery systems, it is clear that there remains a great need for such a system that is capable of providing harvest material to a treatment site according to a system and method which may be surgically implanted in a single operation, while providing autologous material to a treatment site over a prolonged period of time in a controllable fashion.